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Cuckoo in the Nest

Fran Hill

A Daily Mail Book of the Year

'A warm and wonderful story' Adele Parks

'Illuminating and tender' WI Life magazine

It’s the heatwave summer of 1976 and 14-year-old would be poet Jackie Chadwick is newly fostered by the Walls. She desperately needs stability, but their insecure, jealous teenage daughter isn't happy about the cuckoo in the nest and sets about ousting her.

When her attempts to do so lead to near-tragedy – and the Walls’ veneer of middle-class respectability begins to crumble – everyone in the household is forced to reassess what really matters.

Funny and poignant, Cuckoo in the Nest is inspired by Fran Hill’s own experience of being fostered. A glorious coming of age story set in the summer of 1976.

Evergreens

Liam Brown

Shortlisted for The Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in the 2024 Romantic Novel Awards

'Every living thing must die. No one is disputing that. But the how and the when? Now that’s worth discussing.’

What if you could stay young forever? 

Ageing is not some natural process that should be accepted and respected. Far from it. Ageing is a plague and it needs to be cured.

Ben has no qualms about signing up for the Evergreens project, a controversial new trial. But are the promises of life without ageing too good to be true?

Sophie has no doubt that they are. And sixty-five years down the line, she gets the chance to find out.

With Ben in hospital, unresponsive and ageing rapidly before her very eyes, can Sophie uncover the dark secret at the heart of the Evergreens project – and save Ben’s life in the process?

'Heartbreakingly beautiful... so much more than a novel―it’s a how-to guide for appreciating the preciousness of life in all its imperfect and transient beauty' Christina Dalcher, bestselling author of VOX

'A sweeping tale about what it is to be human; heartbreaking and affirming' Bethanys Bookshelf

A Scream of Angels

Joseph Nassise

Evil walks the halls of Eden…

Necromancers, revenants, even a summoned demon or two – they’re all in a day’s work for the men of the Echo Team and their enigmatic leader, Cade Williams. But nothing could prepare them for the fury they are about to face…

When a Jesuit priest wanders out of the New Mexico desert, telling wild stories about a secret research installation and bloodthirsty demons hunting through its halls, the Echo Team is called in to deal with the situation. Their orders – investigate the facility, determine exactly what happened there, and deal with any infernal presence that might exist.

But the being they encounter there beneath the desert sands has found a way to break the bonds of Hell itself and doesn’t plan on going back easily. This time, their foe might prove to be too much for even the best the Templars have to offer.

A Tear in the Sky

Joseph Nassise

He said he’d go to Hell and back to save her. Now he’ll get his chance!

Knight Commander Cade Williams is having a bad day. A message from a once-powerful enemy reveals the unthinkable. Cade’s wife, Gabrielle, is not dead as he has long believed, but held captive deep in the Beyond, a prisoner of the Adversary. Cade vows that nothing will stop him from freeing her soul from the prison that binds her.

Standing in his way, however, is an army of Chiang Shih – Chinese vampires with a taste for human flesh and a desire to invade our world – backed by what looks like half the spectres this side of Hell.

Never mind the Adversary himself.

Infernal Games

Joseph Nassise

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer still…

The war with the Chiang Shih is over but the Templars have paid a high price for victory. Even the Echo Team has not escaped unscathed, its commander returned a changed man with his thirst for vengeance quenched, but his spirit broken.

It is the moment Simon Logan, the Necromancer has been waiting for. A daring prison break allows him to escape Templar control and vanish into the night. Newly promoted Captain Riley and the reformed Echo Team are given the job of tracking him down. But rather than waiting for Echo to come looking for him, the Necromancer takes the battle to them instead; luring former Commander Williams away from his home and stealing the physical form of his wife, Gabrielle, a woman caught somewhere between life and death.

It is perhaps the one act that could rouse Cade from the grey haze his life has become. As he ruthlessly tracks the Necromancer through this world and the next, Cade can’t help but ask himself what Logan might want with a half-dead woman and the man who had literally traveled to hell and back to rescue her.

The To-Hell-and-Back Club

Jill Anderson

Peyton Brooks is devastated when she loses her three best friends in a car crash. Only random happenstance saved her from being in the car with them.

Grief and loneliness push her to reach out for help, and she finds it in supportive women from the To-Hell-and-Back Club. These been-there-survived-that women use their sense of humor, experience, and perseverance to remind Peyton it’s never too late to start over.

As Peyton uncovers secrets about her deceased friends, she struggles to keep her own life-changing bombshell buried. When her secret is discovered, Peyton will need the “Hell Club” women more than ever.

Raining Embers

Jessica Dall

Palmer Tash always follows the path of least resistance. He has an unusual disability involving his hearing. But in theocratic Latysia, being different isn’t a good thing, so he conceals his problem.

Brier Chastain’s malady is even more debilitating, and she often must take to her bed for long periods. Her days are spent in meaningless pursuits as she awaits an arranged marriage.

When Palmer and Brier are kidnapped on the same night, they meet and discover that their so-called disabilities are actually budding powers. They are the incarnations of Order and Chaos. With their country on the brink of war, the two must step into their predestined roles and learn to take control of their own destinies.

The Vast Clear Blue

Karen Schwartz

After his wife’s betrayal, Mark jumps on the first flight out, heading for Central America. He soon joins Aaron, a South African dive master, and Kendal, a quirky fellow American, and the three begin a journey through southern Belize. 

But the trip gets more complicated by the day. 

Kendal finds Mark’s needy misery a welcome diversion from her problems. Her husband, Charlie, is thirty years her senior and dying, and Kendal has sought solace in the arms of Charlie’s best friend, Aaron.

Charlie may be dying, but he’s not blind, and his tickle of suspicion becomes an unbearable scratch. He’s always been Kendal’s protector, and now he must struggle with his illness and the risks of finding out the truth.

Funny, heartwarming, and tragic, this poignant story is ultimately about love, survival, and redemption as Mark, Kendal, and Aaron navigate the rough seas of life.  

Warped Ambition

Debbie TenBrink

When the battered body of a teenage girl is found in a dumpster, Lieutenant Jo Riskin is called to take the case. Investigating with her partner, Detective Lynae Parker, Jo uncovers secrets, loyalties, and ambitions that give motives to a surprising number of suspects , including a boyfriend from the wrong side of the tracks.

While immersed in her current case, Jo is battling her own personal demons. After two years, she is still grieving over the loss of her husband, who was killed in the line of duty. New information that could help solve his murder, and let her move on with her life, is within her grasp. Barricading her heart, Jo is determined to solve both cases and bring the killers to justice.

The Heretic

Joseph Nassise

Monsters prey on the innocent. He preys on the monsters.

As commander of the Echo Team, the Templar’s most battle-hardened combat unit, Cade Williams spends his days working in the shadows, protecting mankind from supernatural threats and enemies. The public is unaware of the Order’s existence, never mind the nature of the enemy they face and that’s fine with Cade, for if it became common knowledge that monsters exist, chaos would result.

But now the Order’s mission and secrecy are threatened when unknown forces attack Templar commanderies in the dead of night, leaving destruction in their wake. Cade and his team are ordered to put an end to the attacks before the battle spills into the open, destroying the hard-won balance between the darkness and the light.

By the time he gets to the bottom of it all, Cade will be neck deep in revenants, demons, and death magick. But the true nature of the forces arrayed against him will only be revealed when he comes face to face with an enemy from his own past, the creature known only as the Adversary.

Knight in Paper Armor

Nicholas Conley

Billy Jakobek has always been different. Born with strange and powerful psychic abilities, he has grown up in the laboratories of Thorne Century, a ruthless megacorporation that economically, socially, and politically dominates American society. Every day, Billy absorbs the emotional energies, dreams, and traumas of everyone he meets—from his grandmother’s memories of the Holocaust, to the terror his sheer existence inflicts upon his captors—and he yearns to break free so that he can use his powers to help others.

Natalia Gonzalez, a rebellious artist and daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, lives in Heaven’s Hole, an industrial town built inside a meteor crater, where the poverty-stricken population struggles to survive the nightmarish working conditions of the local Thorne Century factory. Natalia takes care of her ailing mother, her grandmother, and her two younger brothers, and while she dreams of escape, she knows she cannot leave her family behind.

When Billy is transferred to Heaven’s Hole, his chance encounter with Natalia sends shockwaves rippling across the blighted landscape. The two outsiders are pitted against the all-powerful monopoly, while Billy experiences visions of an otherworldly figure known as the Shape, which prophesizes an apocalyptic future that could decimate the world they know.

Winning the Room

Jonathan Pease

Storyteller Skills for Speeches, Pitch Meetings, and Everyday Life 

“Raw, funny and hugely practical—JP shares insights and secrets from decades of helping an incredible range of people tell their story with confidence and style. Now you can too.”—Adam Spencer, Australian comedian, media personality and prolific author

Transform into a powerful public speaker that audiences love! For entrepreneurs, creatives, or anyone who needs to communicate authentically with their audience, Winning the Room is the public speaking book for you.

Win in every room. Cultivate an authentic connection with your audience, no matter what. Conquer your public speaking fears, learn how to be likable, how to present for work, how to give compelling pitch meetings, and how to be a person who wins through highly effective communication techniques. Winning the Room teaches public speaking skills applicable to everybody, in any situation.  

Become a great public speaker with guidance from an expert. Do you get nervous before a presentation? Do you find yourself rambling and losing your point? In Winning the Room, award winning creative and communications director, thought leader, and author Jonathan Pease (JP) uses road-tested techniques to take you on a fun, yet practical journey to becoming a fearless storyteller people buy from—emotionally and financially.

In Winning the Room, find:

• A tight, actionable, and memorable system for how to build trust and be great at different types of public speaking moments
• How to turn nervous energy into passion and charisma that people engage with
• How to apply these skills to various settings like keynotes, pitch meetings, presentations, and everyday conversations with friends and family

If you liked Cues, Everyday Business Storytelling, or Your Story Well Told, you’ll love Winning the Room.